Diy 5 gallon bucket cloner - simple

dbkick said:

Do you cycle your water pump? no need for a heater if you don't, I've found(especially with an insulated res) that a water pump running 24/7 adds much heat. In the cloning process this is good(to a point) but in veg we all know higher temps are gonna lead to problems.

Click to expand...

db - I've had the pump running for exactly 24 hours non stop with the aquarium heater on. I'll check the water temp in 15 mins and post.

Well isn't that just fuckin lovely. Go out to check the water temp. 91 degrees. That's not the bad part. The pump froze up. No telling how long it was not working. So I took the pots with clones out of the lid, took the lid off and let the pots just float in the water. Run down to the hardware store with 10 mins to spare. No pumps.

Well, the clones I took were from a current scrog. They were shaded cuttings anyway that would have never made it to the light. It cound have been worse I suppose.

Getting a new pump tomorrow at Lowes.

HighLowGrow said:

Well isn't that just fuckin lovely. Go out to check the water temp. 91 degrees. That's not the bad part. The pump froze up. No telling how long it was not working. So I took the pots with clones out of the lid, took the lid off and let the pots just float in the water. Run down to the hardware store with 10 mins to spare. No pumps.

Well, the clones I took were from a current scrog. They were shaded cuttings anyway that would have never made it to the light. It cound have been worse I suppose.

Getting a new pump tomorrow at Lowes.

Click to expand...

yeah I just had an expensive mag pump do the same thing , Lowes eh? I looked at some pumps in home depot but they're just too proud of their fountain/pond pumps. Way to high priced(although this mag drive that lasted a couple hours was 70 bux).

So for the last 24 hrs the clones have been floating in the bucket of water waiting for the new pump. I did add the aquarium heater so they have been warm. I didn't have a thermometer with me, but the water felt like 80-85 degrees.



This is the pump I bought at Lowes. Set me back $45.






The clones are back in the lid and everything is working again. I took out the aquarium heater because the water gets a bit too warm running with the pump. I'll check the water temp in a couple of hours.

no hydro store around? 20 bux or so will buy you a nice 400 gph.

I didn't even check with the hydro store. Figured the price would have been ridiculous. I did call them to ask what GPM or GPH the red misters are. They didn't have a clue. All they told me was 100 GPH should work. I went with the 210 and it works fine.

My other pump was a 300 GPH and about 7 years old (my guess). I started thinking that with only 5 misters, maybe it created too much back pressure and caused it to freeze up.

This new pump came with a valve that can be turned all the way open or closed to a trickle. That's the main reason I chose it.

Did I mention I know nothing about these small pumps?

Harbor Freight
about 13 bucks for a decent pump

Ya but there are no pretty girls at Harbor Freight.

Unless you like ones with no teeth, or is that my harbor freight?